Promo Post - Thirst: Blood of my Blood by RP Channing

240+ Pages
WITH BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHS

~ Kira Sutherland ~

After a near fatal accident (and getting cheated on by her 'boyfriend'), and beating up the lead cheerleader (with whom the boyfriend cheated...), and being labeled as having 'issues' in her school because she, uhm, sees ghosts, Kira is left with two choices:

1. Continue her 'therapy' (where she's told the ghost is a hallucination and also gets her legs ogled too often...)

Or

2. Go to Starkfield Academy, a boarding school for "Crazies and Convicts" (as the social media sites call them.)

She chooses the latter...

~ Cory Rand ~

Cory Rand has not had an easy life. His mother died in a car accident when he was twelve, and so did his mother's best friend...sort of. You see, Janice made a promise to take care of Cory just before she died, and so she lingers. Undead. A ghost that watches out for him.

Brought up in an abusive home, Cory quickly falls into a life of disreputable behavior. After his third offense (which was prompted by a girl, as usual - he has a weakness) he's left with two choices:

1. Be tried as an adult and share a cell with a guy named Bubba (he thinks...)

Or

2. Go to Starkfield Academy, which Cory is pretty sure is run by vampires. But, hey, at least he'll get an education.

He chooses the latter...

It's at Starkfield that Kira meets Cory Rand, a boy with an insatiable Rage who sees ghosts, too. As well as other things, other things from his past, things that confuse him, things like fire and witches and demons.

Things he's always ignored.

Until now.

Genres:

Young Adult Romance

Paranormal Romance

High School

Vampires, Demons, Witches

Dark Fantasy

Horror

Buy Links:

Amazon US
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018M5GTLI
Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B018M5GTLI

Kindle Unlimited 

Author Bio

R P Channing started writing three years ago, but never published anything even after churning out over a million words of fiction. Thirst: Blood of my Blood is the first book he dared to publish. When asked why, he said, “Because it’s the first thing I wrote that my wife actually enjoyed reading.” When not hammering away (most literally) at his keyboard, he can be found buried in a book, reading anything from romance to horror to young adult to non-fiction to comedy.

Author Links

Website
http://blog.rpchanning.com

Twitter

@rpchanning

Amazon

http://amazon.com/author/rpchanning

Excerpt:

PROLOGUE

-1-
The Puppy Eyes

My life was perfect.

I had the perfect shoes and the perfect friends and I lived in the perfect house. My nails were perfect and my hair was perfect (except on Sundays, it was always windy on Sundays) and I had the perfect clothes. My lips were a perfect red and my hair perfectly straight. My eyeshadow was perfect, my hips were...okay, and my waist...well...also okay. Nothing was wrong in my life.

But then there was Jack.

Jack was a problem.

He needed to go. I mean, when you’re dead, you’re dead! I had told him this endlessly. Somehow, Jack didn’t get it. I mean, I felt sorry for the guy. Sure. Being stuck between this life and the next. But just because I found him, does that mean I needed to keep him?

I think not!

Sadly, when Jack got that look in his eyes, that weary, almost teary (if his tear-ducts worked) look, I melted. I just couldn’t send him away. Not even Jack knew where he would go after he died.

Would he, like, die? As in — dead, nada, kaput, finito, gone, no more? Bye bye, sayonara, ciao, hasta la vista baby and all that?

I couldn’t have that on my conscience. No way.

I lay on my bed, wondering what to do about him. “Jaaaaaaack,” I hollered.

“Jaaaaaaack!”

Still no answer.

“Jack!”

Jack...materialized.

His eyes rolled down to the ground. He was making those puppy eyes again. “Jack, I told you not to do that. I told you not to play on my sympathies.”

His puppy eyes became worse.

His skin was gray and, well, dead.

“Oh, brother,” I said. “I have to do something about you. If mom finds out I have another ‘imaginary friend’ — at my age — well, I’d die of embarrassment. But, like, really die. Not like you.” I wondered about this. Would I die? Was Jack a freak accident, or did all people live on like him? Think of the cemeteries...

The idea excited me somewhat.

“What would you have me do, Miss Kira?”

“Knock off the Miss Kira crap. I told you it’s just Kira.”

“Yes, Miss Kira.”

The dead. There’s just no reasoning.

“Fine, Miss Kira it is then.” Rover barked like a lunatic in the garden. No one else might be able to see Jack, but I was sure my dog could.

“I have to do something about this,” I mumbled.

-2-
The Rat

Mike knocked on the door before I had time to leave the house. Mike was the guy I thought (at the time) was perfect.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, baby.”

Baby, urgh — I wasn’t his baby. I dated Mike because he was the quarterback, because girls are supposed to like the quarterback, because it’s just so darn perfect to be seen with the quarterback, like we’re brainwashed into thinking these things from the first romantic doll set mom buys us.

This was my previous life.

“Mike.”

“Uh-huh. Gonna let me in?”

So you can try rub me up and then complain when I don’t let you? This, dear reader, was the big problem with Mike. The second we first kissed, his hand went way too far south for me to be comfortable — and I pulled back.

Mike suddenly wasn’t so perfect.

“Uhm, I was just on my way out,” I said.

“Kira? C’mon, open the door.” He sounded upset. “Is there someone in there with you?”

Boys. As if.

I didn’t know much about love (nothing, actually) but I knew this wasn’t it.

“Uhm, now’s not the time, Mike.”

“C’mon, Kira, what’s going on?” He banged harder.

When in doubt...lie. I opened the door a crack. “There’s a dead rat in the house, Mike. Been here for days. I gotta go get some detergent and stuff to handle the stench.”

Mike stepped back. He peered through the crack of the door.

“It’s really bad,” I said.

“I’ll drive you.”

“I’m afraid the smell” — I stuck my armpit to my nose — “has found its way all over me. I’ll drive myself.”

“O — okay. Fine.” And then he grinned like he wanted something. “Later? My place?”

Urgh. “Uhm, sure...er...later. Not sure when though.”

“Six.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. According to girls at school, he was apparently so damn good looking — theoretically. But for me personally, he did nothing. Moved nothing. Twisted nothing. “Look, I gotta go, Mike. I gotta — ”

“Kira.” His eyes grew stern. “You’ve been avoiding me...”

Bingo! Well done contestant number one! And what have you won? A brain!

I tilted my head. “Mike, look, this...rat — I need to deal with it. We’ll talk later, okay? Bye.” I closed the door, not waiting for an answer, and peered out the peep hole. Mike hung around for a second, shoulders wide and eyes glaring straight at me through the door. Could he see me? Did he know I was looking at him?

He kicked something off the ground, and I had the distinct impression he mouthed the word Bitch before leaving. But I wasn’t sure...

-3-
The Mack

“Roll down the window, Jack.” Jack was recently dead, so he still had a smell about him. (Which only I could smell...)

I had purposely skipped breakfast. Maybe Jack would help me lose weight. I was (still am) a little wide, although it had never stopped guys flirting with me. I know how to dress.

But I could be skinnier.

Lucy Rogers was skinny. All bones and no boobs.

Charlene Carverton was a babe. Cheerleader. Big chest (which she pushed out generously with a push-up — if only guys knew). Toned thighs. Charlene only dated college boys (back then), which I still think is pretty gross for a girl her age.

“He’s not for you,” Jack said out the blue.

“Hmm?”

“This...Mike — he’s wrong for you, Miss Kira.” For all Jack’s faults (mainly, being dead), he has a good heart. Factually, probably it’s why I kept him around at first.

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Then why don’t you dump him?”

I braked at a stop sign. Looked left and right. “Because I’d look like an idiot. I flirted with him and showed interest, and one kiss later I can’t stand the sight of him.”

“So dump him.”

“It’s not that simple. Kids at school — they can be vicious. I have to let it fade slowly. If I drop the bomb on him, I’ll never hear the end of it through senior year.”

“And you care?”

Yes, I did. Forget Guantanamo, schools are rough. “You don’t understand, Jack. Maybe school was different in your day. But in mine, well, we walk through metal detectors.”

“Schools weren’t too different in my day.” I noted the sadness in his voice.

“You okay?”

“I’m dead.”

Right. “You miss...your life?”

Jack shrugged. “I like being with you, Miss Kira. And I don’t remember much of my life. I think I’m in limbo.”

“Limbo?”

“Yes, like I have some unfinished business. If only I could remember...what...it is...” He scratched his head.

“Any ideas?”

“Well, it can’t be love. If it were love, I’d be a vampire. That’s who teenage girls fall in love with these days.”

“A vampire? That’s just what I need — two undead beings stalking me.”

“I feel I have something to do around you, Miss Kira. I don’t know what, but something. Something important.”

I looked over at him. “Me?”

I was still looking at him when I missed the stop sign.

The Mack truck drove straight into us.  

 

$20 Amazon Gift Voucher Giveaway

At the back of the book there is a giveaway link. Once the book hits fifty reviews on Amazon, one of those reviewers will win a $20 (US Dollars) Amazon Gift Voucher!

 

Review: Every Last Breath (The Dark Elements #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Series Ender Challenge #6)

This book I had to buy as soon as it came out, even though I just now got around to reading it!  I finally went ahead and picked it up over some other books I was thinking about reading, so that I could go ahead and add another book to my series ender challenge total.  As always, I just loved the book, and loved getting more time with my one of my favorite book boyfriends, Roth.  If you haven't read the first two, White Hot Kiss and Stone Cold Touch, then you should probably click on the titles in this sentence and read those reviews first, because this will have spoilers for the first books.

Well, as we left off in the last one, we found out who the Lilin was.  And it had taken over the body of someone so close to Layla, Sam.  They were able to get away from it in the meetup at the beginning, partly because they found out that hurting the Lilin also hurt Layla.  Layla learns that the souls that the Lilin takes don't just go where they should, like Sam's should go to heaven, they go to hell.  Layla's new mission, until she can figure out a way to fight the Lilin, is to save Sam's soul from hell.  To do that, she finds out she needs to talk to Death.  Roth's friend/co-hort Cayman, helps her figure out how to do it.  At the same time, Cayman tells Layla that she needs to hurry up and decide who she wants to be with, who she truly loves, Roth, or Zayne.  If you know me, I've been team Roth the whole time.  And I was not disappointed.  Sorry, a bit of a spoiler, but it happens early on in the story, so even as I read, I was always wondering if something would happen to take Roth away, he is on the in trouble list with his boss, you know who.  And in that case, would she be able to return to Zayne? 

Layla also decides to get her first tattooed familiar, and it is a fox.  Her plan to go to see Death is one that she knows she has to keep a secret from Roth, because there is no way he would let her go.  And she doesn't want him going to hell because of the whole being in trouble thing.  So she and Cayman devise a plan for her to get there.  Now, in the meetup with the Lilin, Layla finds that she has wings with feathers.  She soon learns there is more to the story of her mother, Lillith.  While Zayne is not happy with Layla's decision, he knows that she is still not evil, like the rest of the Wardens may think. And so he does his best to try to keep the "good" guys fighting with her.  Of course those that she knew and was friends with before have never doubted her.  And Zayne's father, who was like a father to Layla himself, also will see the error in his judgement from before. 

There will be more good guys lost, but in the end, Layla and Roth, and Zayne and the others will get to what needs to be done in order to save the human race from an apocalypse and hell on earth. 

A wonderful, fitting end to this story.  So many sexy scenes with Roth and Layla.  I love seeing just what Roth's familiars are like when they're in hell, and what they can change into, especially the kittens!  As always, I'm just led to want to read more of Armentrout's stories, and I will be certain to continue stocking up on them as I can!

Review: Hellraisers (The Devil's Engine #1) by Alexander Smith Gordon

First, thanks to Edelweiss and Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read this e-galley.  This is my first book by this author.  I know his other series, Escape from the Furnace, is really popular, and I may have to go back and give them a try now.  We'll see.  When I first started this one though, the beginning had me almost ready to quit. I didn't really like the characters at first, they didn't seem very nice, and there was too much action going on without any knowledge of what Pan was doing or why she was doing it.  But I stuck with it, and soon it slowed down enough to give me the information I needed,  and I began enjoying it more as I read. 

There are two main characters and the story is told from each of their viewpoints alternately.  The first character is Marlowe.  He is a 16 year old kid who has been kicked out of school after school.  His mom is an alcoholic and his home life is horrible.  When we first meet him in the story, he has just done something to his Principal's car, getting him kicked out of what was really the last school that would probably ever take him after all his problems.  And so he leaves Staten Island and runs off to Manhattan.  When he gets to Manhattan he goes into a liquor store and tries to buy some beer.  The clerk doesn't believe he's old enough, which he isn't, and keeps giving him a hard time.  The longer Marlowe tries, more stuff starts happening outside the store.  Sirens, and yelling, and something happens that even crashes into the store, killing the clerk.  All the stuff that is going on outside is something to do with our other main character, Pan.  Pan is some kind of solder we find out at first.  She seems to be fighting demons.  And she keeps talking about getting a contract taken care of.  Plus, she seems to have superhuman strength and the ability to heal when she gets hurt.  Marlowe runs out of the store, after grabbing the clerk's gun, since he's not sure what is going on.  When he runs into a parking garage to try to hide from the cops, it turns out that is where all the ruckus is going down. 

After this experience the people that Pan works with decide that they can use Marlowe. And while it takes a bit to convince him, eventually he decides he needs to join.  He finds a world where people go and make deals with the devil in something they call an engine.  They have people who are able to find ways out of the contract so that the agents/soldiers, like Pan, don't have to go to hell.  But there is a certain amount of time they must do it within, or they will have to fulfill their end of the contract, losing their soul.  This secret group doesn't just make deals with the devil for things they want, like money, riches, etc.  They ask for skills that will help them battle the devil and the demons that are trying to take over the world.  Not only that, there is another group, with another engine, and this other group wants to unite the two engines so that the demons can come out into the world. 

Pan and Marlowe will have run-ins with these other people, two of them are the reason that Marlowe ends up joining.  A set of twins, working for the other side.  And while Marlowe works to fight them, to keep them from getting what they want and destroying the world, they keep trying to tell him that everything might not be quite as it has been explained by Pan's side. 

There is definitely a bit of a cliffhanger, and I definitely need to read on and know what will happen next.  There is more to learn about the engine, and this book was just full of action, with a little section where we get to know some of the background info on the engine and the groups who have worked with it.  I'm ready to learn more in the next book, and I'm sure there will be lots more action!

Review: The Curse of Jacob Tracy by Holly Messinger

I have to thank one of my fellow teachers for passing this ARC on to me a month or so ago.  The author is a friend of one of our art teachers, and I'm actually going to get to meet her when she comes to talk to the students at our school in December.  When the art teacher first told me about the book, I went and looked it up on Goodreads, and was immediately intrigued.  The story sounded really good. And I loved that part of it was going to be set in Missouri, even if it is on the other side of the state from where I live.  I've really started enjoying historical fiction these days I guess.  And while this is fantasy, it is definitely a bit of a scary story as well. And can I say that I could totally see this book as a really great TV series or movie? 

The main character is, as you would guess, Jacob Tracy.  The story takes place back in kind of the old west.  After the Civil War really.  Trace, as he goes by, can see ghosts and such things.  He tries not to give into the things he sees though, especially not to tell those around him about his ability, because in the past when he'd done that, his family - parents and wife - had all died.  He does kind of odd jobs around the town he lives in near St. Louis, Missouri, with his partner/best friend, Boz.  Sometimes the jobs are clearing out trees for farms, other times it may be acting as guides for those traveling out West. The story really gets going when a strange woman offers him a job, going to pick up something that a dead friend of her's left to her. But in the trip, it turns out that maybe her story isn't quite true.  And the place she sends him to is haunted, and he begins to see more ghosts.  He finds out that she actually knows about his powers, and she wants to help him learn to use them, and in some way, then he'll be able to help her with whatever it is that has been causing her illness. 

Working for this woman, Miss Fairweather, will lead him into all kinds of sticky situations.  Ghosts, strange bearlike creatures, demons, and even werewolves, will all be things he has to deal with.  All the while he will fight her influence, try not to give into what she wants, while at the same time he will feel that she is helping him, and he is learning to control his powers the more he works with her.  It won't be just one bad guy he deals with, although there does seem to be one "boss" or "master" that is sending them all to find about him, and possibly get him to join and give over his powers.  This master is also someone that Miss Fairweather had dealt with in the past, and she will do her best to help Trace as much as she can, even while still keeping her own secrets about what she actually needs.

Like I said, this is one that as I read it I could totally picture watching it.  The characters were really well done.  The historical time period was very detailed and seemed just like what you would imagine.  One of the characters in the last section of the book, named Remy, was a Cajun man, and as I read his dialogue, I totally heard the accent and voice in my head.  I look forward to reading more by this author, especially since I think this definitely left off for a sequel.  There is more that I need to know! 

Also, I love the publisher's little symbol.  I'm pretty sure it is a dachshund!

Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

First, thanks to Delacorte Press and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an egalley of this title.  I was very excited to read it as I love the books that I've read so far in another series by the author, the Soul Screamers series.  This was a different sort of story.  Still had some of the same sense of humor though for the characters as seen in the other books I've read.

The main character is a 16 year old girl named Nina.  In her world, a future for us, demons have tried to take over, and so the Church has had to kind of take over everything to keep us safe.  It all started when babies were being born, and almost every one of them would die within a day or two of being born, with no reason.  It turns out that there were no souls left, no new souls, and without a soul the babies or any human for that matter, would die.  So they had to have exorcists start taking care of the demons, which led to a war. And then they had to have people die in order for new babies to be born and live.  So someone would have to apply for a parent license first, in order to get a soul.  Usually, if you were lucky, you had a family member that would donate it to their grandchild.  If you didn't have anyone like that, there is a public registry.  Nina and her younger sister live with their mother, who is not a very good mother.  They go to the Church school, and learn all about what life should be.  But because their mother doesn't earn money like she should, the girls have to steal, well Nina does for her sister and herself.  One early morning when Nina is on her way home from getting some food, money, and uniforms for them, she is attacked by a degenerate, which is someone who is possessed by a demon. Without a soul their body degrades. She is saved by a cute boy, but she runs off before anyone can find her or that she has been out somewhere she isn't supposed to. 

This boy will end up being a part of what she will have to turn to for help when things start to just go wrong.  When her sister has a secret that could destroy all of their lives, and their mother turns out to be an even worse mother than they'd originally thought.  And they learn that the Church may not be telling them the truth, and there may be more demons, and less exorcists to help than they had thought.  And when Nina finds out that she may actually be an exorcist herself, things get really weird.

I like the story, it's a different one.  It didn't quite grab me as much as the other series did. But it did leave off in a manner that I will be eager to get the next one and find out what happens next.  I'm not sure about the romance in the story.  It's got a bit of insta-love, but it's a strange one, not sure quite how it will end up working.  When you learn about the boy, Finn, you'll understand my qualms about him.  The author does do a good story though, so it was a very interesting read, one that will hook you in so that you have to know what is going on.

Review: Be Not Afraid by Celilia Galante

First, thanks to Random House Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  Obviously the cover is pretty creepy looking.  This is a great horror story, much better than I was expecting, which I know is horrible to say, but I'd never heard of the author, so wasn't sure.  I was definitely pleasantly surprised.  I could totally see this as a movie, in fact I'd be very excited to go see it.  If you know someone who can get it turned into a movie, get it to them!

The main character is Marin.  Her mother committed suicide about a year or so ago, and right at that time she started seeing colors and shapes inside of people.  She soon figured out she was seeing their pain.  No one believed her though, even after she went and saw many therapists and even regular medical doctors.  Her father moved the two of them to live with his mother.  She's got one friend, Lucy.  She thought maybe she'd have another, when one of the really popular girls invited her over shortly after she started the new school.  Instead that visit ended up in Marin being locked in the closet by the girl, Cassie, and screaming and yelling to be let out until Cassie's older brother Dominic heard her and let her out. 

All the different pain colors that Marin sees are so bright sometimes that she has to wear sunglasses, or in chapel she tries to read a book, until one of the nuns takes it away.  It is while they are in this mass that all of a sudden Cassie stands up and starts yelling that the communion wafer is hurting her and screaming and having almost a seizure. And as she goes down the aisle she stops right in front of Marin's row and points at Marin and says something about "It's You!"  Then she does fall on the floor and have a major seizure.  Everyone is freaked out of course, including Marin, who gets sent home early because of being traumatized.  When Marin decides to go see her friend Lucy, who has been calling and texting constantly, she is waylaid along the way when Dominic shows up.  He says that Cassie has been asking for Marin, and he's hoping that maybe if she sees her, it will help her feel better or at least calm her down.

For some reason having Marin around helps Cassie, when it's not sending her into major fits.  There seems to be something inside Cassie though.  Marin sees a black shadow inside her, something she's never seen before.  And this black thing moves around, and hides at times.  Soon Dominic and Marin will begin to think that Cassie is possessed by a demon.  And Dominic will feel it is up to him to try to save his sister.  He and Marin will grow close in their trials with this.  In the end there will be evidence to where the demon came from, and Marin and Dominic will even ask the priest from their school to help with an exorcism. 

A great story.  All the normal things you expect with possessions, and even a lot of the tings for exorcisms.  I really liked it.  I really mean that I could see it as a horror movie.  It definitely reads perfectly like many that I've seen.  If you like stories of exorcisms and demon possession, this is a good one!  

Dream a Little Dream (The Silver Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier

First, thanks to Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers, as well as Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this back in December.  For some reason I thought it was going to be published in January, so I read it earlier than I probably had to. But the only bad thing about that, is that now I have to wait even longer than I thought for the next book in the series to be published I guess, and I LOVED this one!  I was a huge fan of the Ruby Red trilogy, and so was very excited to see this come available on Edelweiss.

The main character in this book is Liv, short for Olivia.  Her mother and father are divorced, and she has a younger sister named Mia.  Their mother travels for her job a lot, and so they have lived in many different places.  The book begins with the current move to London.  When they arrive they find out that the little cottage they'd been looking forward to living in has been replaced with an apartment in town. The reason?  Their mother seems to have fallen in love.  They meet this man, who is nice enough.  He has twins, Grayson and Florence who are a little older than Liv.  They both go to the school where Liv and Mia will be able to go now.  And the night they first meet at a dinner, it seems that they are going to be moving to live in the same house together.  When Liv makes a mess on her clothes, she ends up borrowing a sweatshirt from Grayson.  Later that night she runs into Grayson in her dreams.  As well as some other boys that go to her school.  Of course she knows she is just dreaming, and she's always had pretty vivid dreams that she can remember.  This dream seems to be more real feeling though.  And the next day when she sees all the boys at school, it is as if they remember the dream too.  Soon the boys have a proposition for Liv.  They want her to help them out with a game they started about a year ago.  A game they started with a girl named Anabel, who has since moved away.  The "game" had to deal with raising a demon, and one of the caveats was that one of the participants had to be a virgin.  Turns out Anabel wasn't what they needed.

Grayson, and one of the other boys, named Henry, both kind of try to talk Liv out of joining them. But her curiosity wins out and she joins in. The realistic dreams and other things really have her attention.  And Liv loves a good mystery, or puzzle, one that she has to solve. The more complicated, the better.  Along the way it seems maybe Henry might be a pretty good guy, and maybe, just maybe, he might feel the same way about her that she is feeling about him.

I just love the way the author writes her characters, just like in the Ruby Red trilogy, I love the sarcastic conversation.  I love that Liv will catch herself when she is describing Henry with very sappy, silly words like, "had I really just thought his hair looked like spun gold in this light?"  I also love that their dog, Princess Buttercup, is a dachshund!!  My favorite type of dog.  The only thing I didn't like?  That the ending seemed to be pretty much wrapped up, until a little twist at the end.  But, the good thing about that is that it means there are more stories with these characters that I love so much for me to read.  If only I read German so that I could read the 2nd one already!  If you loved the author's earlier trilogy, I think you'll love this one as well.

One last fun thing, the door on the cover is basically Liv's door in the dream world.  Everyone has a door to their dreams.  At the end of the book, the author tells what her dream door would look like, and then asks the readers what would their door look like?  I'm thinking mine would be pink and have a doorknob with a dachshund head, or else a door knocker that was a dachshund that would bark it's head off when someone knocked. 

Review: Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Okay, once again prepare for a love fest.  I am hooked now on Jennifer L. Armentrout's books.  Being able to read the first one, White Hot Kiss, and then this 2nd one right after it, is going to make it very hard to wait until the third one, Every Last Breath, comes out this July.  In fact, I kinda wonder if they'll be giving copies of it away, ARCs, at BEA this summer.  If only I could: A. afford to go again this year, and B. not already  have plans for the weekend it is happening this year.  Of course, the first two I picked up as strip cover copies at my bookstore, and since I'll have to buy the 3rd one, guess I'd better start planning to buy the first two so I can have a matching set.  :-)  And of course I'm also even more sad that I was unable to meet her last summer at BEA.  :-(    Enough of my fangirling and moaning, let's get on with the review.  Which if you haven't read the first one, I can't promise no spoilers at all from that story.

Layla is back.  But she's devastated after Roth sacrificed himself to make sure the demon they were trying to send to hell didn't get away, also saving Zayne in the process.  But it meas that Roth was now stuck in hell.  There is one thing Roth left her though, that keeps him close to her at all times.  His familiar, Bambi. The snake is now a tattoo on her body.  And while she and Zayne seem to be getting closer now, Bambi likes to show up as a reminder to him about Roth.  And while things seem to be maybe becoming a possibility that she never dreamed of for her and Zayne, other parts of her life are changing.  For one thing, all of a sudden one day she can no longer see the auras of people with souls.  But she seems to be feeling or sensing other people's feelings when they touch her or get close to her.  That's not all that's going on, it seems there are more upper level demons around town.  And when a surprise shows up, Roth, (you had to know he couldn't be gone!) they learn that a Lilin was created somehow even after all they did to try to prevent that from happening. 

Meanwhile Abbott, Zayne's father, and Layla's adopted father, seems to have been keeping even more secrets from Layla. And he no longer seems to have much trust in her.  To the point where he even thinks she is behind the bad things happening.

Of course it all blows up at the end, when Layla begins to think that just maybe she is at fault for the Lilan, and she hurts someone she never dreamed or wanted to hurt.  She will have to turn to Roth and her friends Stacey and Sam to try to solve all of this and save the world. 

Definitely another bit of a cliffhanger with the end of this one. Although the person who ends up being the Lilan, well I suspected something about them early on that led me to believe there was something else going on with that person.  And while I'm glad that she got to be with Zayne, there is just something about her with Roth that I kinda like better.  And I want to address the whole love triangle thing. With all the talk and hatred about love triangles, I feel I have to point out some things. First, many, many books have them, even older classic ones.  Think about Gone with the Wind, there's Ashley and Rhett.  For movies, how about the original Karate Kid, Daniel and Aly and Johnny.  And again, as fiction, it feels good to have two guys you want, both wanting you.  At least I would think it would be, well in a fictional world.  So I'm okay with it when it's done right. And this book definitely is. 

Okay, I have to hop back on the love train here, I LOVE the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural tv show references.  How did I never realize that the reason Dean's car is what it is on the show is partly because the trunk is big enough to hold not one, but TWO dead bodies?  I love it!  I think I could totally hang out and watch these shows with the author and have a great time.  Anyways, enough about that again.  If you haven't read this series, and you enjoy a good paranormal YA story, with great characters and dialogue, then what are you waiting for? Get out and get your copies today!

Review: White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

About a month ago I got a stripped cover copy of the 2nd book in this series from the bookstore where I work.  So I had to go to the library to check out the first book.  And then, wouldn't you know, the first book became a stripped cover at my bookstore, so now I got that, and it was my first read for my romantic themed reads for February.  This is my second book by Armentrout, and I think I'm now completely sold on her writing, and probably need to read every book she writes!  The first one I read was Don't Look Back, and while I loved it for the suspenseful writing, this series I know I love for the awesome characters and the steamy romance!

The main character is Layla.  Layla is half demon, half Warden, and Wardens are what we call gargoyles.  They were sent to us to take care of demons, and have only recently come out and let humans know what they are.  Layla lives with the Wardens.  The problem is that her demon half wants to take souls.  And Wardens have the purest, brightest souls, so she has to be extremely careful around her own family.  One of them, Zayne, who would be like an older brother if she hasn't had a crush on him for so long, seems to only see her as a sister, and even so, it can't be anything more because the temptation to take his soul would be too great for her.  She does have the ability to see everyone's soul auras, and she can tell if they have good souls, or if they are demons even.  And the Wardens let her help out by tagging demons for them. When she touches them, she leaves a mark, and that tells the Wardens who to go hunt.  Saves them a lot of time. 

But something has changed.  The demons seem to be looking for her now, and they attack her.  Right about this same time, a major demon shows up.  Roth, sexy and charismatic, Roth saves her from one demon.  But Layla knows she can't trust him.  After all, the Wardens have raised her to deny her demon side, to help them get rid of demons.  But something about Roth keeps her interest, she can't seem to stop talking to him.  He knows about what it is like for Layla. The things she has to deny.  But he gives her some doubts about the tagging demons. Maybe they're not all as bad and deserving to be sent back to Hell.  And he saves her life many times.  Not to mention the physical attraction that seems to be sparking between them. 

Again I have to just say, WOW, the steaminess of this book, without being ridiculous.  It was perfect.  The cover definitely shows what it will be like.  My only thing that kept me from it, was that I thought the cover did not look like a teen book.  It looks more like an adult romance, the ones that go much farther than steamy, go all the way if you will.  I'd be reading the 2nd book right now, except I make myself read an egalley in between every physical book that I pick up so that I can try to keep on top of those review books.

I am now going to be recommending Jennifer L. Armentrout to everyone.  Can't wait to start sharing!

Review: Unmarked (The Legion #2) by Kami Garcia

First, thanks to Little Brown Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for allowing me to read this.  It showed up on the site right about the time it was going to be published.   So it is already out, I didn't really get it in time to read it before.  But that's okay, I really enjoyed it!  I finally read the first book, Unbreakable this summer when I checked it out from my school library where I work.  Of course if you haven't read the first book, I can't help but there will be spoilers from that one.  Just know that this is a great solo series by one of the author of the Beautiful Creatures series.

When we left off at the end of the 1st book, the 5 people making up the Legion, Alara, Jared and Lukas, Priest, and Kennedy have just accidentally set the demon Andras free.  They didn't know that the Shift they were putting together wasn't a way to get rid of him, but to release him.  And actually, Kennedy still isn't a member of the Legion.  So the group figures out there must still be someone else.  That her mother hadn't actually been the person in the Legion.  They kind of assume maybe it was her father, who she hasn't seen since he left.  But soon they figure out that it must be his sister, Faith, and they set out to find her.  Finding her leads to a confrontation with the Illuminati.  Or as we learn, a small rebel group of the Illuminati.  And while the Legion and the Illuminati have never been "friends" or even on cooperating terms, in this case, it is the two Illuminati members, Gabriel and Dmitri who show up and actually kind of save the Legion from the demon.  Or they do, until the unthinkable happens.  The demon jumps into Jared.  Now the group must find a way to get Andras out of Jared without killing him.  But the longer the demon is inside, the more powerful he gets.  And the demon is already pretty powerful from the souls of the girls he's been taking and killing.  The girls who all look similar to Kennedy. 

We learn a lot more about Kennedy's family, and how the Illuminati has been a part of her life just as much as the Legion.  Priest and Alara will find out Jared's secret about the list he made of the members.  And Andras isn't the only demon, he is able to summon at least one more, in his quest to start open the gates of hell and take over the world.  Kennedy's best friend Elle is along for the ride this time, as she is the one who helped the others to find the private school where Kennedy had been sent by her mother's remaining family after she'd shown up at the hospital with her injuries, and had been suspected of running away.

Once I had time to sit and read more than 30 minutes one day, I was sucked in, and it was really hard to put down.  I love all the back story that we're getting.  The information about the Illuminati is fun to think about if they were really that way.  It's fun to read this again as a fan of Supernatural and think of all the things that tie together for the paranormal aspects.  Another great read, but with another ending that leaves me impatiently awaiting the next book.  Especially since there is no information on Goodreads about it yet, since this one just came out. 

Review: The Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz

First, thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen, but especially to the author, for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  Once again I'm so much in love with characters from a book.  And the love comes from the fact that these characters are the kind of people I want to hang out with, in fact, the way they talk and joke around, they are the kind of people I already do hang out with, as well as the people I am related to!  The sarcasm of the main character, Paige, is just so much like me, or at least like I try to be, I'm not always as quick with the comebacks as she is.  And let me tell you, when I began reading the book, and Paige was talking about how good of an eye roller she was, I seriously almost laughed out loud!  Because lately, I feel as if I've been rolling my eyes constantly with a certain person, and I actually hope I've gotten good at making sure to turn away so that the person doesn't see it.  Let me give you a rundown of the story.

The main character is Paige, and we start the story with her in the school bathroom talking to her best friend Dottie.  Other students come in, and they immediately start making fun of her.  Seems Paige is considered the crazy girl at school.  One reason for this could be when people catch her talking to Dottie.  You see Dottie is a ghost, so it looks as if Paige is just talking to herself or the wall, or nothing.  And this just started after Paige did a heroic deed of saving a boy's life.  When he wandered into the middle of the street, she saw him and ran and pushed him out of the way of a car, only ending up getting hit by the car herself, and essentially dying, until the doctors bring her back to life.  She had to transfer schools because of the ghosts, and no one believes her, not her parents even.  She ends up going to see doctors, and taking all kinds of medicines.  Or at least pretending she does.

There is a new guy at school that doesn't seem to find Paige quite as weird, at least not that she can tell from brief interactions.  His name is Logan.  And he is always borrowing her pens, and even turns up in situation where Paige could really use some help.  And soon she finds out that he believes her.  He believes her because he can see the ghosts too. And not just ghosts, but demons.  And it turns out these demons have shown up to get Paige, she has the ability to open a door between here, New York City, and what they call The Dark World, and alternate dimension of NYC, and as it sounds, not such a great place.

I won't tell you anymore, there are all kinds of excitement, and moments of action that you need to read yourself.  There was one part that I was about to be really mad at Paige for.  You know that thing, when someone has to pretend not to know someone or say something to throw someone else, a bad guy usually, off the track?  You do, believe me.  But Paige was in the other room and heard Logan saying those types of things to a demon and his uncle, and at first she seemed to be upset and believe that he meant them. But, fortunately, probably because of what a great author Cara is, you could tell that Paige worked it out in her brain and understood why he was saying and doing what he was doing.  And I really liked that.  Because when it happens the way it normally does, I just get so irritated!

Now as I got close to the end, and what had seemed to be a main problem wasn't really as close to being solved as there was enough time to do it in, I knew that there was going to be a cliffhanger.  So now, I have to wait at least a year I'm guessing, and I don't know if I can!

A great new story from a great author, who I definitely count as a friend.  I hope you will pick up the book when it comes out in a month, and enjoy it as much as I did.

1st time I met Cara in NYC

I also want to share what you'll see in some credits at the end of the book:

My name starts at the top, right side of yellow square.

Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

This is a book I got as a Christmas gift from my youngest sister's boyfriend.  I believe he said it was his favorite book.  I've read a couple books by Neil Gaiman and liked them.  So I figured this would probably be a good read as well.  I've not read any Terry Pratchett, although the titles of many of his books are pretty humorous.

This is kind of a fun look at the end of the world.  Now, I almost put the book down right away when it started talking about how old the Earth is.  When it said dinosaurs weren't real?  Well, as a former science teacher, I just about was done with that.  But, I gave it a shot, as I know it was supposed to be funny, and in a way, reminded me of episodes of Supernatural.  Which I guess that show would have to not think dinosaurs were real, and I love that show.  It also began by reminding me of another favorite book of mine by Christopher Moore, Lamb:  The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.  

The book begins with an angel and a demon, Azariphale, and Crowley.  I love the name Crowley too, as it is one of the big demon guys in Supernatural.  And they both get the message that it is time to start the end of the world.  By the delivery of the baby that will be the Antichrist, and he must be switched with another baby.  Well, the switch goes wrong, and the baby doesn't end up with the family it is supposed to be with. And so as certain people, nannies, tutors, etc., are sent to help get him ready to end the world, it doesn't seem to work.  Plus, the angel and demon we met at the beginning?  Well they both kind of like humans, and don't really want the world to end.  So the angel sends people to try to counter the evil of the nanny, etc.  At a certain age, a dog is supposed to go meet the Antichrist.  Crowley is waiting to see it, but it never shows up.  At least not with the child they'd thought was the Antichrist.  Instead we soon learn that the baby went to a small town and grew up pretty normal.  Now, things may happen that are unexplained, but nothing major.  And he does get a dog, but the dog isn't quite what is expected, or at least it changes.  Now, all of these events have been predicted by a witch named Agnes Nutter.  And some other characters in the story are Witch Finders, who are supposed to find them, and of course burn them.  And then we also have a witch that lives in the small town, or has just moved to the small town, where the true Antichrist lives.

It's a lot funnier than I make it sound. There were parts I had a little bit of an out loud chuckle.  In the fashion of British humor I guess you would say.  I did notice that one of my favorite authors, Maggie Stiefvater, gave the book 5 stars.  Which doesn't surprise me really, as her Raven Cycle books include ley lines, which it talks about in this book as well.  If you enjoy parodies of religious stories, and British parodies of anything,  you will enjoy this book.

The New Kid by Temple Mathews

Thanks to BenBella Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read this.  I guess it isn't that new of a book, looks like it's been out for awhile, but it was available so I asked to read it because it sounded pretty good.
It wasn't bad, kind of predictable, but again, not bad.  The main character is Will Hunter, his last name is perfect because he is basically a hunter, kind of like Sam and Dean on Supernatural.  Will is the "new kid" or as it is always written in the book "the New Kid" a lot.  Turns out he travels from town to town, basically hunting demons.  This all began because of what happened to his father when he was about 9 years old.  He also learned all about how his father had been hunting demons, and although he was unable to hear the demon speak, he knows that it took his father.  And since then he has been searching for that same demon to try to find his father.  He lives with his mother and stepfather, the stepfather is kind of a crappy guy, reminded me a bit at first of the mother's boyfriend in The Lightning Thief series by Rick Riordan.  Somehow, I think I remember it is because of how good he is with computers, he has been able to make a lot of money, so much that he is in control of the company that employs his mother and stepfather so that when he needs to move on to a new town in search of more demons after he's taken care of the problem in one town, he can have them transferred.  Now, when he meets the principal at the new school, I'm again reminded of another tv show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and when she met with the principal at the beginning of the series.  Part of Will's being good with computers has led to him creating a video game that is very popular, and this video game is basically all the fights he's had with demons, he also keeps track of how many demons he's killed in the game.  The girl who will be the love interest is named Natalie.  Natalie lost her twin sister a while back, and she is sure it was something weird that happened, and so when Will shows up, Natalie seems to sense something different about him, to the point that she spies on him, and sees him setting up his fancy room in the basement.  The class nerd also befriends them and finds out.  So now Will has something he normally doesn't have to worry about, friends.  And of course, there is something going on in this town, and it may even be leading up to something bigger than Will is expecting.  Will learns something about his past and his family that will shock him, and really change the way he looks at things.
Okay, this story had a LOT of action.  I actually got a bit bored with it myself at times, especially at the end, when I kind of started skimming through that part.  But, along that line, I can see that this could be a popular thing for boys to read.  So I would definitely recommend it to many of my male students.  Because it was told in 3rd person sometimes we'd kind of get a look at Natalie's viewpoint.  But it didn't flow that easily for me.  It was like it was thrown in just at certain parts.  I'd have like to have seen maybe every other chapter or something from her side, that would have made it make more sense maybe.  Not sure.  All in all, not a bad book.  Not a top choice for me, but not bad.

Misfit by Jon Skovron

This is another egalley I received from Abrams Publishing on Netgalley.com. This book will not be published till August 1st, but it will be on my staff recommendations as soon as it is. The main character is Jael. Jael has never really fit in at any school, but she's moved all her life, almost every two years if not more often, so it hasn't been that big of a deal. She lives with just her father because her mother is dead. Her father is a bitter ex-priest who used to perform exorcisms. Her mother was a demon. So Jael is a half breed. Because of her father's days of being a priest, she has always gone to Catholic schools. Because of being a half breed, her life is in danger from demons who believe in pureblood only, kind of like Voldemort and his hate of mudbloods. But here, it seems that the few half breeds in the past actually could cause problems for demons. Some of them may sound familiar to you, Perseus, and Merlin. The Perseus connection will draw in some Lightning Thief fans I think. So until she's turned 16, and her father gives her a necklace from her mother, Jael doesn't know much about her mother, her father has kept it from her in an effort to save her, as well as out of his feelings of betrayal and sadness of the death of his wife. He tells Jael not to put the necklace on. But even having the necklace, Jael begins to have vivid dreams which are actually flashbacks to the history of her mom and father. And she begins to learn about her past, and what it means to be half demon.

As with all of these types of books, all Jael really wants is to be a normal teen, which she's been unable to do with all the moving they've done throughout her life. She'd finally felt like she was somewhere she fit in, and now it seems she may have to move again to stay alive. I won't give away anymore of the book, except for the first demon she meets, well, let's say you'll really like his character, I did.

I really liked this book. I love the different look at ancient demons and how they weren't necessarily "evil" in what they were doing. I like the change in the view of hell, even how they go so far as to say it is not actually like Dante's version. (That could be because I was unable to get through Dante's Inferno I hated it so much). I really liked the story, liked the characters, and the look back at history. There was even a retake on the story of Samson, and I really liked it! I feel like the story really leaves off for a series of sequels. I don't know if there will be, and I guess the fact that it hasn't even been published means there are no hints about a sequel yet, but I'm hoping for it! I even sent a question to the author on his website asking him about this.

Great book! Read it when it comes out!